One of last things we shared with interested adults in EVS project StART with your Mind were workshops on topics of connecting, transitions and assertive communication. It was pleasantly challenging to search for a topic and give an opportunity for reflection on it to others. Below are short presentations of workshops that were gathered by talking with one facilitator from the pair of facilitators.
Connecting.
Christina told me that Deea’s and hers workshop is about connecting what we have inside with outside. Purpose of this connection is experience of new ideas and inspirations. Opening to outside carries many different meanings – one of them is letting the other person to influence my emotions, thoughts, senses and imagination and by this I can give answers I did not have before, by this I have something new to give. Workshop creates the space and time for participants to experience fascination about their senses, inspiration to be stupid and try things, change from being over thinking to being more spontaneous and more open to their flow. “On the evening before workshop I found my fascination for this attitude I wanted to transmit again and I tried to put it in my way of giving the instructions for activities. It was challenging to put answers of participants in the context I planned – out of participant’s attitudes to collect attitudes that help us to connect more to our senses, emotions, thoughts and imagination.”
Celebrating Transitions.
Ecaterina’s and mine workshop is about accepting and integrating a change in life – be it a change of habit, place, work, free time, relationship … It is a travel through three stages of a transition. It starts with separation stage which means mental and symbolical withdrawal from a part of current self, continues into liminality – the ambiguous stage in between and is concluded with incorporation stage, which involves accepting a part of new identity in the large field of who I am. We got inspiration for this structure from Arnold van Gennep’s term Rite of Passage with which he described those three stages of rites he observed in different communities – the most common ones are ceremonies marking birth, the transition from childhood to adulthood, marriage and death. Participant in our workshop were reflecting upon their individual transitions and expressing their reflections and feelings with writing, movement, creating sculptures with clay or drawing. We marked ends of stages with communal activities. The end of first stage was marked with a dance of letting go of the past and being grateful for the experience. We guided participants from liminality into incorporation with meditation. The incorporation or beginning of a new period in life was celebrated with dancing in the circle.
Assertive Communication.
Cecile’s and Ovidiou’s workshop uses improvisational theatre and role play for meeting the objective: being more assertive in your communicating. Cecile told me in short what it means to communicate assertively. It is a way of expressing what you want and at the same time respecting the desires of others. For assertive expression you need to know your needs, talk for yourself and tell about how you feel. There is also assertive non-verbal communication – being expressive with your body, tone of voice and eye contact. To look into some aspects of it in the workshop she used theatre because it’s the artistic tool she masters the most, enjoys playing with it and guiding others in their minds and bodies. Participants firstly embodied passive and aggressive way of communicating and had a task of solving a dilemma with using those ways of communication. This was extremely complicated for them because they were not able to listen to others and express themselves. In second round in which they tried solving the dilemma using assertive communication they experienced fluent and smoother communicating.
Articol realizat de Zarja R.